The present invention is related to conference calls, and more specifically to providing multilevel conference call participants.
Conference calls, or multi-party calls provided though a conference bridge service have become a common method of conducting business meetings. Invited parties are given an access telephone number and usually a passcode or passphrase to authenticate to the call service and be joined into the conference. Passcodes may not always be required, permitting unauthenticated access to the conference. One passcode may exist for the meeting leader or moderator and another passcode for meeting participants, and thus a shared access code. In addition, each party may have a unique access code, providing higher security and better means of distinguishing or identifying calling parties. As an option in a conference, the meeting moderator may choose to have conference callers be held in a “waiting room” or an inactive state while waiting for the leader to activate or begin the conference call.